Schools and Education Manatee County's 3rd Grade FCAT Scores Well Below State Average

MANATEE – Third graders in Manatee County trailed other schools in the state in both reading and math, according to FCAT results released by the Florida Department of Education on Thursday. After the state repositioned the criteria to make a 3 or higher on reading ”proficient,“ 56 percent of Florida schools met the score. However, only 50 percent of Manatee County students scored 3.0 or better.

In math, scores were even further below the state average. 58 percent of Florida’s third graders scored 3.0 or higher on math In Manatee County schools, only 48 percent of third graders achieved 3.0 or better. Willis Elementary was Manatee County's top performing third grade school, where 81 percent of students were proficient in reading and 75 percent in math.

Orange Ridge Bullock and Rogers Garden were the too lowest performing schools. Only 24 percent of students in each school were proficient in reading. In math, Rogers garden had 22 percent proficiency, while Orange Ridge Bullock had 25.

”The new more rigorous cut scores are in preparation for the state’s move to the common core standards in 2014,“ said Superintendent Dr. Tim McGonegal. ”With our new Teaching and Learning division in place, we are moving swiftly to target strategies that will improve our results across all grade levels.“

In more positive news, the Manatee School District did well in ”End of Course Assessments“ also released yesterday. In the Biology 1 End of Course Assessment, the Manatee District topped the statewide Mean Scale Score in grades 9-12.

While the state Mean Scale Score in Biology 1 was 43 in Grade 12, the Mean Scale Score for Manatee District 12th Graders was 49 – six points above the state average. In 9th grade, the Manatee District Mean Scale Score was 55compared to the state average of 53; in 10th Grade Manatee was 48 compared to the state’s 46 and in 11th Grade Manatee was 46 compared to the state average of 43.

In the Geometry End of Course Assessment, the Manatee District topped or equaled the statewide Mean Scale Score in four of five grades from 8th through 12th grade.

The Mean Scale Score in Geometry for Manatee District 12th graders was 44 compared to the statewide average of 41. In 8th grade, the Manatee District averaged a 65 while the state average was a 63; in 9th grade the Manatee average was a 59 compared to the state average of 55 – four points above the state average. In grade 10, the Manatee District equaled the state average of 46.